ACORN Nevada Office Raided

Updated 8:55 p.m.By Mary Pat Flaherty
The Nevada office of ACORN had planned a potluck dinner at its Las Vegas office Tuesday night to celebrate the 80,000 newly registered voters its staff had signed up in Clark County as part of its work with low-income communities nationwide.

Instead, their office was raided Tuesday morning by agents of the Nevada Secretary of State and Attorney General who alleged in an application for a search warrant that ACORN had hired 59 felons through a work release program as canvassers and submitted nearly 300 apparently fraudulent voter registration cards as part of the drive.

The submitted voter cards included addresses and names that do not exist in Nevada, duplicate registrations, names culled from telephone books and names of Dallas Cowboys players, an investigator for the Secretary of State alleged in his affidavit for a search warrant.

One ex-employee of ACORN reached by the state investigator told him she began making up names for her forms on days when it was too hot to work outside. ACORN canvassers are paid by the hour. Ex-employees also said they were expected to collect 20 complete forms a shift or risk probation and termination, the investigator said in his affidavit.

The search drove ACORN and its critics to exchange charges of political maneuvering in a battleground state that voted Republican in the 2004 presidential election but is considered in play for November. Mail-in voter registration closed Saturday in Nevada.

Agents removed 20 boxes of documents and eight computer hard drives from the ACORN office in "an ongoing investigation," said Secretary of State Ross Miller, a Democrat. "Now we begin the task of sifting through the material that was seized to determine how widespread any fraud might be."

No arrests were made yesterday and no ACORN staff were in the office during the raid.

ACORN officials said they were stunned by the search because they had unilaterally identified and flagged suspicious voter registration cards to the county elections board starting in July and had been cooperating with authorities to cull bad information and fire workers who collected that information, said Brian Mellor, senior counsel for Project Vote.

Project Vote relies on staff from ACORN, which stands for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, to do field level voter drives.

ACORN's internal checks, Mellor said, included tracking forms assigned to canvassers using serial numbers and worker sign-offs on each form and following up with listed voters by phone to verify they had taken part in the registration drive. The search warrant mentions those procedures.

That cooperation and meetings with state officials also are mentioned in the search affidavit, as is a subpoena from the state that was delivered to ACORN in September asking the group to resubmit information on several employees it had previously turned over to county elections officials. The forms were resubmitted, Mellor said.

"The raid was a stunt designed perhaps to make them look tough on voter fraud," said Matthew Henderson, the southwest regional director for ACORN. "We don't think fraud is a rampant problem. This was a politically motivated stunt, that is all there is to it because those new voters can reshape the electorate of Nevada."

Henderson said many voters registered through ACORN are "working people and people of color and there may be corners of the political world where a high injection of new voters like those is unsettling some."

The state is one of several viewed as a battleground. The Secretary of State and Attorney General are Democrats.

"If this were a stunt I would have put Ross (Miller) out there with a shotgun like Buford Pussey," said Miller's spokesman, Bob Walsh. "I'll grant them their cooperation, though it is grossly dishonest not to bring up the felons in their official statements they released."

But, said Walsh, "at the end of the day, it is our job, not ACORN's, to enforce election law and that is why we acted."

In July, the two Nevada state agencies involved in the raid, along with the FBI and U.S. Attorney's Office for Nevada, formed a task force to target voter registration and election fraud and complaints over voter registration practices, potential voter fraud, and enforcement of laws regarding voter intimidation. The federal agents were not part of Tuesday's search, Walsh said.

Registration drives conducted by ACORN in several states are under scrutiny by local elections officials for the accuracy of cards gathered by its workers.

Mellor said that problems with duplicate registrations -- for people already registered who sign on during a drive -- have been a problem that ACORN is working to eliminate because those cards burden local elections boards who must process them. He also noted that the group has worked with local authorities in St. Louis and Kansas City in the past on investigations. But the Nevada search, he said, "is the first raid I can recall."

ACORN has been the object of heated denunciations from the Republican National Committee and the McCain campaign, which contend the group is attempting to overwhelm election officials with new registrations that are carelessly gathered and would enable unqualified voters to get on the rolls.

"It is very difficult to ascribe any other motive to the activities of ACORN other than to swamp the system with registrations cards" that range from illegible to being drawn from names from telephone listings or other public directories, said RNC Chief Counsel Sean Cairncross. Cairncross spoke Tuesday during a telephone press conference on another ACORN voter drive in northwest Indiana that local news accounts report is under review by elections officers.

The ACORN drives, he said, "point to a lack of control in this organization" and "a willingness to go out and do this relentlessly."

The McCain and Obama camps have been trading blasts and Internet alerts over Republican charges that ACORN has been closely linked to Barack Obama for years, a contention the Obama campaign denies.

ACORN has ALWAYS been a shady group. OBAMA along with ACORN is responsible for this whole economic crisis and has infected itself with a disease called greed. the blood of this countries financial system is on the hands of OBAMA! read on:

i'll cite the most recent crisis with a fact many of you have not cared to make yourself aware of: the Obama backed (ACORN) sued to make banks provide loans to recipients who were not able to repay. In these lawsuits, ACORN (the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) abused the law by forcing banks to make hundreds of millions of dollars in "subprime" loans to often uncreditworthy poor and minority customers.
(ACORN) makes a bogus claim of Redlining, (denying poor people loans because of their ethnic heritage). filed tons of these lawsuits and ALL of them allege racism, this was a strong arm tactic that was backed by bill clinton and janet reno to garner votes for the then upcoming elections. these loans were then sold off to the government backed fannie and freddie. you know the rest... or do you? did you know that the top three men at fannie mae and are now PAID advisors on the staff of obama? these three men, franklin raines (former ceo of fannie mae), tim howard (former cfo of fannie mae) and jim johnson (former lehman brothers AND fannie mae exec) between them had over 288 million in "golden parachute" money! whay did obama recently hire them after the companies that they "ran" collapsed? i cant think of a single reason. OBAMA AND ACORN are corrupt from stem to stern...DONT BE FOOLED!
now this is the most recent reason that i wont vote for obama. there are many, many others. educate yourselves! thank you for your time.

I BECAME A MEMEBER OF THIS SITE JUST TO TELL YOU ALL HOW BIG OFF AN A$$ YOU SEEM TO BE! EVERYONE EXEPT UEROSSRS, WILDER5121, AND DESSALINES. UNLISTED, YOU WERE SMART TO BE UNLISTED BECAUSE YOU ARE A RACIST A$$#OLE WHO WILL PAY FOR WHAT YOU PRACTICE. IT'S PEOPLE LIKE YOU WHO MAKE ME BELIEVE THAT THE ENTIRE REPUB. PARTY AND IT'S SUPPORTERS ARE ALL RACIST. YOU ALL ARE STUPID. THE ENTIRE WORLD IS IN AN UPROAR AND YOU WANT TO KEEP THESE IDIOTS IN OFFICE. YOU CAN SAY WHO DID WHAT AND TRY TO POINT FINGERS; IT STILL ALL BOIL DOWN TO THE ONE YOU ALL VOTED FOR EIGHT YEARS AGO TO F*&%K US ALL UP. IF YOU DON'T EXPERIENCE STRUGGLE, AND YOU ARE NOT THE PERSON THAT MOST PORTRAY AS LAZY AND NOT GOING TO BE ANYTHING HOW CAN YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT WE ARE GOING THROUGH? IF YOU ARE LAZY THAT'S YOUR OWN FAULT, BUT FOR THOSE OF US WHO GET UP EVERYDAY AND GO STRAIGHT TO SCHOOL AFTER WORK, WE ARE STRUGGLING TOO. SINCE YOU WANT TO TAKE IT TO A RACIST LEVEL "UNLISTED", YOU PROBABLY NOT EVEN WEALTHY JUST BORN IN TO MONEY. THAT MAKES YOU NOTHING, A CHARITY RECEIVER REALLY. I WORK FOR MINE, EVERYTHING, AND FOR YOU TO SAY THE "POOR" OR "MINORITIES" SHOULD BE BANNED FROM VOTING HAS REALLY PISSED ME OFF. I'M 21 Y/O, BALCK, FULLTIME PHARMACY MAJOR THAT WILL MOST LIKELY HAVE MORE FINANCES THAN YOU WILL WHEN YOU RETIRE AND CASH IN YOUR 401K. SO JUST BECAUSE WE ARE NOT WEALTHY IN FINANCES DOESN'T MEAN THAT WE ARE DOWN. OUR SPIRITS ARE SOARING HIGH AND THAT IS PRICELESS!!! ON THE OTHER HAND YOU CAN MAKE 500,000 IN A YEAR (PROBABLY NOT MAKING 1/4 OF THAT NOW), AND SHOOT YOURSELF IN THE HEAD. SO YOU TELL ME WHO'S LIVING FINE, EXPENSES OR NOT. YOU DON'T SEE THE "POOR" PEOPLE AND THE "MINORTIES" KNOCKING THERESELVES OFF BECAUSE THEY ARE RICH AND STILL UNHAPPY. WE DEPEND ON THE CREATOR OF THIS WORLD, SO EVEN IF WE MAY NOT HAVE AS MUCH AS YOU RIGHT NOW, OUR HELP COMEMTHS FROM ABOVE AND THAT IS ALL WE NEED.

CHYNA
OBAMA/BIDEN "08"

THAT'S ALL I WANTED TO SAY.
P.S. THIS BLOG SITE SUCKS MAJOR A$$.
*EXCUSE MY PROFANITIES*

STEALING THE VOTES OF AMERICANS IS OUTRAGEOUS !!!
Acorn's voter fraud registration must be investigated. Also, Obama's involvement must be investigated. With the increasing number of anti-American racists and crooks surrounding Obama, we must insure that he does not steal this election. We must also investigate the legitimacy of Obama's foreign and domestic campaign contributions.

"..the group had submitted registration forms that used false information or duplicated information on multiple forms. He did not estimate how many." -http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/07/AR2008100701457.html

However these people were HIRED by Acorn and are not employed by them directly:

"Bertha Lewis, interim chief organizer for ACORN, said the group has been working with election officials to weed out fraudulent forms from those submitted by THE CANVASSERS IT HIRES."-(same article)

People say Democrats were responsible for this? Democrats LED THE INVESTIGATION. Doh.

"[Acorn's] office was raided Tuesday morning by agents of the Nevada Secretary of State and Attorney General. [...] The Secretary of State and Attorney General are Democrats." -This article

Playing the same tricks all over again: your 'evidence' is circumstantial! Ayers, etc are circumstantial. Hell, at least Bill O'Reilly had the courage and sense to say this kinds of 'evidence' just does not stick.

LAS VEGAS—Nevada election officials say a voter registration fraud investigation of a community group that registered thousands of voters in Las Vegas won't undermine the general election less than four weeks away.

Matt Griffin, Nevada's deputy secretary for elections, said Wednesday that an ongoing investigation of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now has not led investigators to believe anyone will try to vote illegally on Nov. 4.

Investigators on Monday seized computer data and documents from the group also known as ACORN, which says it has registered more than 80,000 voters in Clark County since February.

Neither the group nor its canvassers have been charged with any wrongdoing. Griffin says state officials are reviewing all registrations submitted by ACORN to determine how many are fraudulent and who is responsible.

The desperate acts of such political "face-painters" is bringing to light the increasing devolution of America as a representative super power. The current political stewards, both Democrat and Republican, are to blame for this strangle hold on American politics and it's corruption. Why there are no third party candidates to liven up the funeral dirges that are the debates, and the political race in general speaks to the "political monopoly" held by the two parties. Why not consider the Libertarian ticket (http://www.bobbarr2008.com/splash/?s0820)? Third party candidates such as the Libertarians are white washed out of the press, excluded from the debates, and kept off the ballots. The Democrats and Republicans should be run out of Washington for good.

Thank you so much for illustrating my point. I appreciate the assistance more than you can imagine. Seriously...To me it is amazing that I post something that speaks specifically to liberals and on cue you come out of the nuthouse and prove my point exactly.

Not only did you try to defend the actions of this group but you actually took it a step further by claiming slander on democrats all the while managing to majestically slandering both Palin and McCain yourself. If that is not the very definition of hypocracy I do not know what is.

It only proves that liberals are so freaking predictable in there manic behavior.

When Obama wins this election I hope they enjoy all the nonsense that they have done for the last 8 years.

Come next year I am going to make a point to blame EVERYTHING on Obama. Hurricane hits South Carolina? Obama did it becuase he is racist. Terrorist attack? Obama did it becuase he is a muslim. (I know it is not the truth but why not take a page out of the dem playbook and not worry about the "truth")

Vote for Hussein and your bank account is deader than Saddam Hussein!!!! We conservative do need some work on our slogans but it will get there.

This here has only become an "issue" because the GOP is looking for new ways there to slander Sen. Obama. Of course when a neighborhood organization hires people off the streets to do jobs, sometimes a small number of them there people will do them there jobs wrong, and sometimes real wrong. That doesn't mean the operation "encourages" bad behavior. That there is inflammatory bull, hyped up by partisans to try to slime Sen. Obama. It's all about helping McCain there, the Keating guy, and Sarah Palin, the politician who fires everybody she doesn't like and hires unqualified schoolmates to do important AK jobs.

Partisan innuendo, dontcha know, is sorta undemocratic and therefore UnAmerican if you think about it, dontcha know? Hey, you betcha it is.

It is indeed troubling when people refuse to see past there own ideologies and excuse either by rationalization or direct lies someone else's poor or illegal behavior.

The reality is simple.

ACORN has a troubled history and is currently under investigation in 15 states at the moment for voter fraud.

The main principals in this investigation are both Democrats.

There already confirmed reports that this group has broken election laws by employing ex felons and it has been confirmed that the names of current Dallas Cowboy players have been forged on documents. (I am not sure how these people feel about this but I am sure that there could be some law suites that are brought becuase of this alone for identity theft).

Meanwhile the hard corp left wing is somehow blaming the republicans for this.

If these people had any intelligence, class or sense of patriotic duty they would be outraged. This is much more than about about Obama or McCain. This is pure voter fraud and an embarresment to every American in the country. We, as a country, should expect more.

The liberals like to scream that they are all about defending the constitution and doing the "right" thing but it seems to me, and this story as well as the many responces on this MB confirm, that they are only interested in justice if it serves there side.

When the tables are turned it is always in blamed on Republicans.

Shame on all of you that are not accepting that this is a problem that needs to be addressed.

I got off the Purple line in Chicago yesterday an ACORN person tried to get me to register in Chicago to vote though I am registered in Michigan where I live (I only have a work apartment in Chicago) when I pointed out I had no Illnois ID and was voting Michigan - she told to sign up here and vote in both for Obama; true story Howard Street Station. Crooks, frauds and dope fiends doth make up ACORN.

ACORN has long been affiliated with 'indictments' for VOTER FRAUD. BUT THEN they had that HARVARD ace-legal beagle BARACH'irreparably-dishonest'OBAMA as their attorney-teacher-mentor!!! ACORN was listed in the first failed BAIL-OUT BILL as one of the beneficiaries of all that DEMBHOLE PORK!!! WHAT'S A LITTLE VOTER FRAUD TO ACORN??? WE HAD FREDDIE-MAC + FANNIE-MAE TURNED INTO A 'MINORITY SLUSH-FUND' FOR LOANS THAT HELPED RUIN OUR BANKING FINANCIAL SYSTEM - SO WHAT'S WRONG WITH A LITTLE VOTE FRAUD??? Help OUR MINORITIES - TEACH 'EM HOW TO 'STEAL' ELECTIONS WITH ACORN!!! Ha.

Voting is a privilege and a patriotic duty. Those who would impede this process that is so crucial to our Democracy are unpatriotic. ACORN should be commended for their efforts to engage all Americans in performing their patriotic duty to vote. I have heard the 'little people' at Fox and other conservative vilify ACORN. Of course most of these people came to America after the founding and did not sacrifice for the freedoms they enjoy and have no moral authority to deprive 'real Americans' of their right to vote! They have no decency! They have no shame!

Many Israelis will vote in the next election and no one is checking to see if they are qualified to vote. Any citizen that has dual citizenship is unpatriotic!

According to the article, the raid was prompted by complaints and a finding that less than 300 of 80,000 registrations submitted were invalid/fraudulent. That's a whopping 0.38% -- less than 4 in 1,000. Let the state check it out. Even if the error/fraud rate is a hundred times the finding, it still leaves over 50,000 valid registrations.

nwerle, if it was indeed a "stunt", I'm sure that the Secretary of State's investigation will make it clear. Although I am registered as a Republican, I have confidence that Democrat Ross Miller will set aside partisan politics and perform his legal duties as Nevada Secretary of State.

Since the Nevada officials in charge of all this are DEMOCRATS, you are in denial if you blame partisan dirty tricks. This just shows that ACORN's methods are so disruptive and destructive to a clean elections process that they must be stopped.
Thank Goodness these officials are not playing party tricks, like they are in Ohio.
Whoever wins, let it be fair and square. We need ACORN investigated in every corner of the country.

I see the Dems are still in denial. How blind can they be? Anything that goes wrong is the Republican Party?? My God how stupid can the Dems be? Before long they will be calling for the deportation of anyone who criticizes Obama. The Obama cukt is just beginning their terrorist schemes.

mtavro, You're one of the apoplectic individuals I'm referring to; your all caps post rant about "GOP/J.McAIN/BUSH-ROVE/MUD/SMEAR AND SCARE TACTICS" does nothing to contribute to a rational discussion. Have another beer, and enjoy your night watching "reality TV". Think just a little bit less about how the presidential candidates will improve your lot in life, and worry a bit more about the local crooks that really impact your life.

THE GOP/J.McCAIN / BUSH-ROVE MUD/SMEAR AND SCARE TACTICS HAS JUST BEGAN. I AMN'T SURPRISED THAT EUROPE AND THE REST OF THE WORLD ARE LAUGHING FOR OUR SO CALLED DEMOCRACY. WITH SO MANY EXTREME MORONS WHO VOTED TWICE FOR G.BUSH AND SUPPORT J.McCAIN/FRAUD, IS IT ANY WONDER WERE AMERICA WILL BE 50 YEARS FROM NOW !!!

I would point out that Nevada Secretary of State Ross Miller, a Democrat, and whose staff initiated the investigation, has stated that some of the voter registration forms in question were made out with the names of Dallas Cowboys football players. While there may indeed be a different "Tony Romo" and "Terrell Owens" eligible to vote in Nevada, the situation bears scrutiny considering ACORN's previous record. How about we let the investigation play out before we go all apoplectic over yet-another "Rovian Republican plot" and hurl unfounded accusations at one another. Neither candidate, if elected, will be able ruin America, thanks to our Constitution; when will people realize that a president can't do much at all without the consent of Congress and the Judicuary. Neither Obama or McCain will "save us" unless we agree to be saved, Republican and Democrat alike.

After executives took nearly all the wealth their employees created, they put it in banks to lend to their employees so they could grab the rest of it through usury.
If American employees had been fairly paid for the wealth they created, they could have paid their bills. What's more they wouldn't have needed to borrow so much.
Don't be fooled. Executive greed and permissive republican economic policies have caued this crisis!

Oh yeah and the Republicans are as pure as fresh fallen snow. Gimme a break. Who called out the goon squad anyway? That's a typical GOP tactic when things aren't going their way.
Nothing I despise worse than hypocrisy. The conservatives are always on their artifically manufactured, moral high horse.

This is downright scary, having the police, FBI, state attorneys, and state officials acting to further the causes of a political parties agenda. Just the other day I watched Rove or as he likes to be called turd blossom, talk all breathlessly about "voter fraud". The reality is that Voter fraud is miniscule to be nonexistent. The real Crime is "Voter Purging, caging and intimidation that is being carried out by the the republican party and their tools within local state and fed offices. hundreds of thousands of people in black, hispanic, and native american neighborhoods are being dissuaded from exercising their patriotic right to vote. College students and military personnel are being told that they will be ineligible to vote if they have changed addresses. All this is being done to try desperately to ensure that they remain in power. What a good grand old party they are.

i thinks with the economy tanking we need someone that knows what to do its not the time for on the job training or a poke and hope i for one had my 401 tank and i think if barney wasnt in bed with ferddy and fanny and let the goverment regulate it we would not be here her all this smoke and mirrors by the dems but its clear and on record this hole problem starts with free house for a vote clinton and the dems caused this

When Republicans control the government LOOK OUT ! They practically owned Ohio in 2004 and did everything from putting in too few voting booths in Democratic areas to "fixing" the GOP owned voting machines! ---- I'm sure this Acorn thing is part of their Bull. Just think logically. Would an organization try to get a relatively small number of votes knowing about the law and jail? --- Or would the Republicans, controlling Nevada try to smear them and steal votes themselves! YES! ---- I used to be a Republican but got fed up by their BS and lies, and their attack on democracy was too much even for someone who believed my conservative teachers. This is Nixon tactics all over. Does McCain have any honor?

Damn! If only the liberal, MSM, gotcha journalism, left-wing, pinko, God hating, Gun Banning, Communist/Socialist/Marxist/Leninist/Maoist Washington Post wasn't 150% in the tank for Obama we'd be reading about how Nevada state officials on Tuesday morning raided the Las Vegas office of ACORN as part of an investigation into alleged voter fraud.

Um...never mind

Posted by: flyfishchef | October 7, 2008 4:19 PM
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I don't follow your rant. What does this raid have to do with the Obama campaign?

acorn has been charged in two past elections for cheating in obama was a lawyer for acorn and he also put a hundred million dollars in ear marks for acorn in the bale out bill it was taken out after his name and acorn came up

This is part of Republican dirty tricks. I'm sure Acorn is careful but probably some GOP dirt squad got hired by them and submitted bad information. ---- The Republicans already sent out bad voter mail cards in Wisconsin, which is nothting short of MAIL FRAUD ! They should be investigated and sent to JAIL !!! --- See the dirty tricks the GOP played in 2004 to "win" Ohio! Google Rolling Stone magazine article by Kennedy. ---- They even claimed an election building was threatened by "terrorists" so no media could watch the stealing of thousands of votes!! The FBI later said it was baloney! But the GOP controlled the state then and NO ONE WENT TO JAIL, like Blackwell, a crook!

Sounds like the criminal minded Republicans politicizing law enforcement again. Government is too important to let authoritarian minded thugish Republicans anywhere near the reigns of power. They have way too many authoritarian tendencies.

PANIC TIME for John W McCain. He's crashing his campaign just like he crashed every plane he ever flew. He's as unstable now as he was then...with a dose of senile dementia thrown in. It's great fun watching all the Republicans who've DESTROYED our country in only eight years now SWEATING and WHINING on the news shows as McCain GOES DOWN IN FLAMES.

Both Republicans AND Democrats should take voter fraud seriously. I hope that not just Republicans are complaining about this practice because Acorn workers have been in trouble before and have a reputation for these horrible practices which compromise our free vote process. I find it disturbing that EVERYONE isn't up in arms about slimy voter registration practices. The ones doing these things belong in jail.

Damn! If only the liberal, MSM, gotcha journalism, left-wing, pinko, God hating, Gun Banning, Communist/Socialist/Marxist/Leninist/Maoist Washington Post wasn't 150% in the tank for Obama we'd be reading about how Nevada state officials on Tuesday morning raided the Las Vegas office of ACORN as part of an investigation into alleged voter fraud.